| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"" |
| Date: |
21 Dec 2006 07:05:31 PM |
| Object: |
Is Christianity a Comfortable Religion? |
Answered by James V. Schall here:
http://tinyurl.com/wzssq
And a brilliant interview with Schall:
http://tinyurl.com/yjqxly
Schall's latest great book:
http://tinyurl.com/y3lr6a
Finally, more essential Schall reading:
http://tinyurl.com/y9dfux
and
http://tinyurl.com/yyhk8l
Bonus: Here's the Conclusion chapter from his Another Sort of Learning:
"Education, philosophy, science, politics, history, revelation - these
are the themes that I have considered here in various ways. I have
often talked of Plato and Aristotle, of Augustine and Aquinas, of
Chesterton, Pieper, and C.S. Lewis. I have done this to underscore
their importance. And I have repeated favorite book titles worth
emphasizing in different contexts. I wanted to suggest that anyone with
some diligence and some good fortune can find his way to the highest
things even if such higher level concerns are not formally or
systematically treated in the schools, even if they are in fact denied
there or by our own friends or culture. Indeed, I would suspect that
there is a certain basic loneliness in our relationships to the highest
things. I am not a skeptic here, but we should not expect too much from
our formal educational institutions in this regard.
"Throughout these pages, I have talked of 'another sort of learning.' I
have talked about why we should read, what we should read, books we
should keep. In a sense, we can tell a lot about anyone by looking at
what books, if any, he reads, at what books are on his shelves. I do
not intend to be concerned here with the 'practical' things in the
normal sense of that term. The normal events of life, too, cause us to
wonder. Sooner or later, we each must come to wonder about the things
that ultimately count, count for our place within what is. For these
purposes, we cannot exclude the quotations of faith or even politics.
Neither can we neglect those whom our tradition tells us are the great
teachers. Of these, there are not so many. This is an advantage, in a
way. But there is much competition for our attention. We are being
drawn to many often conflicting things, many things that have something
attractive about them or else we would not be drawn to them. Yet we
have the same restless hearts that Augustine had, and this causes us to
wonder.
"At first sight, it will seem that I am mostly interested here in books
to be read. I have always found books to be helpful, yet they must be
good books. So there are books mentioned here that I have found of
importance. But beyond books there are always good people, people who
may or may not be 'educated' in the normal sense of the term. Life can
teach much. As I have often intimated, all of reality exists in every
life, in every culture and time, in some radically basic sense. This
fact alone should be enough to prevent us from ever placing too much
credibility on academic or formal knowledge. And yet at least some
people need to pay attention to this side of our lives and
civilization. Here is where a book such as this, I think, can be of
some assistance. No one can read or think for us. We need to face the
challenge of error and evil, even in our very lives. But we also need
to hear the other side, as it were, the case to be made for sanity, for
reality, for our limited yet transcendent nature, the one found in each
of us.
"So these reflections are intended to challenge us, to cause us to
wonder about the validity of what it is we are formally taught. I do
not think that our higher educational institutions encourage us in a
serious consideration of the power of the highest things. I have
noticed too many intelligent and sensitive young men and women who
darkly suspect this lack, especially in the best schools, I would say,
because the best schools often do not realize that they are missing the
most important things. Thus, there is a sort of 'recruitment' aspect to
these reflections, one that tends to call us beyond the formal
structures and established forms of our schools.
"Whether we pass to more elevated topics, however, will depend on what
further avenues of thought and reflection we are willing to follow. I
know that I myself have been 'called' to such higher things by many of
the writers and books to which I have directed the curious reader in
these pages. That is to say, I am confident that this account is
something more than just another course or another list of someone's
favorite books, though these books are often my favorite works on which
to begin reflection.
"In conclusion, then, let me return to my somewhat unorthodox subtitle,
to the idea that we need to 'complete our knowing' even if we are
busily engaged in a university but not really confronting the higher
things. Our leisure time is our most precious time, as Aristotle had
already intimated. I do not mean to downgrade ordinary concerns,
because these are necessary and our meeting of what is takes place
within our very lives, in our ordinary affairs, not in some abstract
beyond. On the other hand, we can easily be confused.
"The higher experiences of friendship, death, love, truth, and beauty
leave us unsettled even when we experience them at their highest. This
book is about the mystery of our capacity to find real good and love
and delight in our lives, yet at the same time, we recognize that we
are not complete. This is what lies behind these reflections on
'another sort of learning.' Our highest 'earned' academic degree,
whether it be a high school diploma or two doctorates of philosophy,
will not guarantee that we really confront the what is that is given to
us wherever we exist. The recruitment for this latter search is what
this book is about.
"Indeed, this seeking is what life is about, this life that we are
given, and we begin our search from our own insufficiency. But we are
not alone, and this is testified to by the many men and women who have
gone before us, those who did not live in our own time or in our own
place. Sometimes we can find our way because others have found theirs,
because they realized that the higher things were worth pursuit, as
Aristotle told us and our religious tradition has often repeated to us."
.
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| User: "Michael Gray" |
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| Title: Re: Is Christianity a Comfortable Religion? |
22 Dec 2006 12:46:27 AM |
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Is Christianity a Comfortable Religion?
Nah, the nails hurt!
--
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| User: "Uncle Vic" |
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| Title: Re: Is Christianity a Comfortable Religion? |
22 Dec 2006 02:12:38 AM |
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Once upon a time in alt.atheism, dear sweet (jacksoneskew@hotmail.com)
made the light shine upon us with this:
Is that you, Mr. Academy Awards?
--
Uncle Vic (Sagerquist - Paramount)
aa Atheist #2011
Supervisor, EAC Department of little adhesive-backed "L" shaped
chrome-plastic doo-dads to add feet to Jesus fish department.
Proud member of Earthquack's "Ghost fulla holes" convict page
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| User: "Lars Eighner" |
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| Title: Re: Is Christianity a Comfortable Religion? |
21 Dec 2006 07:25:52 PM |
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Sure it is.
You get to tell people to do what you want them to do because it is the will
of god --- you know god agrees with you.
You never have to worry about whether you are doing the right thing. If it
is right, that's good. If it's wrong, jesus died for your sins. So you do
what you please and let jesus pickup the pieces. This is especially great
if you are in business or the military. Or politics. Relax, jesus has you
covered. This peace of mind leaves you well-rested so you can devote your
energies to directing the lives of heathens.
--
Lars Eighner <http://larseighner.com/> <http://myspace.com/larseighner>
Cole's Law: Thinly sliced cabbage.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: Is Christianity a Comfortable Religion? |
21 Dec 2006 08:28:23 PM |
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Lars Eighner wrote:
Sure it is.
You get to tell people to do what you want them to do because it is the will
of god --- you know god agrees with you.
You never have to worry about whether you are doing the right thing. If it
is right, that's good. If it's wrong, jesus died for your sins. So you do
what you please and let jesus pickup the pieces. This is especially great
if you are in business or the military. Or politics. Relax, jesus has you
covered. This peace of mind leaves you well-rested so you can devote your
energies to directing the lives of heathens.
--
Lars Eighner <http://larseighner.com/> <http://myspace.com/larseighner>
Cole's Law: Thinly sliced cabbage.
Lars, clearly you were too lazy to read the essay. Typical.
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| User: "Ghod" |
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| Title: Re: Is Christianity a Comfortable Religion? |
22 Dec 2006 11:50:09 AM |
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wrote:
Lars Eighner wrote:
Sure it is.
You get to tell people to do what you want them to do because it is the will
of god --- you know god agrees with you.
You never have to worry about whether you are doing the right thing. If it
is right, that's good. If it's wrong, jesus died for your sins. So you do
what you please and let jesus pickup the pieces. This is especially great
if you are in business or the military. Or politics. Relax, jesus has you
covered. This peace of mind leaves you well-rested so you can devote your
energies to directing the lives of heathens.
--
Lars Eighner <http://larseighner.com/> <http://myspace.com/larseighner>
Cole's Law: Thinly sliced cabbage.
Lars, clearly you were too lazy to read the essay. Typical.
_Which_ essay? I saw several links to who knows what, and the last
chapter of someone's book. A very dreary book. No essay, though.
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